The Baldur's Gate 3 cellar under the Blighted Village has a door behind the book case that's difficult to know how to open, as well as a strange mirror and a locked cage behind that safeguards the strange Necromancy of Thay in BG3. Exploring the area is a fun little side quest, in part because it lets you reach the delightful character Shovel, summoned via a spell scroll found in one of the coffins before you go through the mirror - but you still gotta get that far first. With that in mind, we'll explain how to get through the cellar in Baldur's Gate 3 below, and what you can expect to find.
How to open the cellar door in Baldur's Gate 3
The cellar in Baldur's Gate 3 under the Blighted Village Apothecary has an obvious secret door behind a bookcase, but it's hard to know how to open it. What you need to do to open the secret door is move the crates to the left of the bookcase, by pressing down on the mouse while your character stands near them and dragging them to the side. Behind them is a lever, marked on the image above - pull that to move the bookcase and open the secret door!
Behind the secret door is an open cave with two Guardian undead that try to ambush and attack as you get close to their coffins, so it's worth attacking them from a distance before they can surprise you, and using Cleric powers (if you have them) to knock them down once they get up.
After that, progressing will find a little wooden platform to the east - and a big ornate mirror that shows a little more than your own face when you look into it.
How to get past the Ornate Mirror in Baldur's Gate 3
The Ornate mirror speaks when spoken to, and is enchanted to allow an ally of its master through. To convince it to let you through, give the following replies in this order:
1. (Any non-aggressive response).
2. "Yes, an ally! I'm an ally of your master's."
3. "Szass Tam is a foul, wretched creature."
4. "I read a doctor's journal - he used balsam ointment to clean a wound." (requires you to have read the book near the lever that opens the book case secret door)
5. (Any answer except "I'd see the ones I love.")
Doing this correctly will allow you into the laboratory of Ilyn Toth, but failing will have the door summon a construct to attack you. If you get past, you can find the Baldur's Gate 3 Necromancy of Thay (be warned, the cage it's kept in is trapped by a pressure plate just outside you'll want to disarm).
How to find the Cellar in Baldur's Gate 3
If you've heard about the cellar to search in Baldur's Gate 3 but aren't sure where to find it, you can find it inside the Apothecary shop - the one filled with all the plants and bottles - just to the left as you enter the Blighted Village. Behind the counter is a wooden hatch, shown on the image above, at coordinates X:32 Y:379. Just interact with that to drop down and find the first room with the bookcase mentioned above.
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